Watch: Ukraine blasts Russian Ka-52 attack helicopter out of the sky

Incredible moment Ukraine blasts Russian Ka-52 attack helicopter out of the sky sending it crashing to the ground in latest humiliation for Putin

• Video taken from the ground shows the helicopter erupting into a ball of smoke
• The clip shows it then plummeted to the ground before bursting into flames

This is the incredible moment Ukraine’s armed forces blasted a Russian attack helicopter out of the sky, sending it crashing to the ground.

In the latest humiliation for Vladimir Putin and his generals, a video taken from the ground shows the Russian Ka-52 Alligator being shot down over the battlefield near Robotyne, in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region.

A second, not seen in the clip, was also reportedly shot down in the same region.

The dramatic war footage shows the Ka-52 flying with another helicopter over the region, when without warning it erupts into a ball of black smoke.

The damage appears so severe that the chopper makes no attempt to stay in the air, instead instantly plummeting towards the ground at speed as a piece of the aircraft flies off in another direction.

This is the incredible moment Ukraine’s armed forces blasted a Russian attack helicopter out of the sky, sending it crashing to the ground

Pictured: A thick plume of smoke is seen rising into the sky after the chopper hit the ground

The camera tracks it all the way to the ground where it falls below a treeline.

After a split-second delay, a huge fireball is seen erupting from where it landed, before more thick black smoke is seen rising into the sky.

Seeing the fate of his fellow airmen, the pilot of the other two helicopter flies forward at speed to get out of the dangerous area.

The fate of the pilot in the first chopper was unclear. 

It was not clear if the other helicopter seen in the first clip was the same second chopper that was reportedly shot down later by Ukraine’s forces.

Another clip appeared to confirm one was downed with a portable air-defence missile system, fired by Ukraine’s 47th Mechanised Brigade.

In the second clip, black smoke was seen rising from the shot-down helicopter after it crashed in the field.

A video carries a voice saying ‘We’ve got it, got it….’ followed by expletives.

The commander of Ukraine’s air force, Mykola Oleshchuk claimed a second near blitzkrieg town Bakhmut in Donetsk region.

He posted: ‘One less Russian Ka-52 on the Bakhmut front this morning.

‘Thanks to the air defence unit of the Air Force for a successful combat operation.’

The Ka-52 is boasted by the Kremlin as ‘the world’s best helicopter gunship’, and they caused Ukraine headaches in the early days of the war.

However, Kyiv’s forces quickly adapted and have since claimed to have shot many out of the skies, with a number of clips emerging of their destruction.

According to the military blog Oryx, which counts Russian and Ukrainian losses based on visual confirmation, Moscow has lost 41 of its Ka52s since Feb. 2022.

The helicopters cost £12.5 million.

Pictured: Smoke is seen rising from the wreckage of the helicopter after it was downed in the Robotyne area, Zaporizhzhia, by Ukrainian forces fighting in the region

The Ka-52 is boasted by the Kremlin as ‘the world’s best helicopter gunship’, and they caused Ukraine headaches in the early days of the war. However, Kyiv’s forces quickly adapted and have since claimed to have shot many out of the skies

Neither side has been able to gain air supremacy over the other in the 18 months of war on account of both Ukraine and Russia boasting significant air defences.

Ukraine has been pleading with western nations to send F-16 fighter jets to help it push on with its on-going counteroffensive against the invaders.

On Friday, the Dutch defence minister announced that the United States has given the country approval to deliver the fighter jets to Kyiv.

The decision represents a major gain for Kyiv, even though the fighter jets won’t have an immediate impact on the almost 18-month war.

‘I welcome the US decision to clear the way for delivery of F-16 jets to Ukraine. It allows us to follow through on the training of Ukrainian pilots,’ Dutch Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren said in a message on X, formerly known as Twitter.

‘We remain in close contact with European partners to decide on the next steps.’

Ukraine has long pleaded for the sophisticated fighter to give it a combat edge. It recently launched a long-anticipated counteroffensive against the Kremlin’s forces without air cover, placing its troops at the mercy of Russian aviation and artillery.

Apart from delivering the warplanes, Ukraine’s allies also need to train its pilots. Washington says the F-16s, like the advanced U.S. Abrams tanks, will be crucial in the long term as Kyiv faces down Russia.

The Netherlands is part of a Western coalition that also includes Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sweden and the United Kingdom that in July pledged to train Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16s.

Washington must give its blessing because the planes are made in the United States.

Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra said in a message on X that U.S. clearance to send F-16s to Ukraine ‘marks a major milestone’ in Ukraine’s defense.

It was not immediately clear when the first F-16s could be delivered to Ukraine.

Pictured: Another clip appears to show the moment the Russian helicopter was downed

As well as the Netherlands, Denmark said in June that training Ukrainian pilots had started and the country was considering delivering jets to Kyiv.

However, the pilots will need six to eight months of training before a possible donation of aircraft can become a reality.

In a statement to Danish media, Defense Minister Jakob Ellemann-Jensen said that the government has several times said that a donation was ‘a natural step after the training.’

Meanwhile, Russian air defenses stopped drone attacks on central Moscow and on the country’s ships in the Black Sea, officials said Friday, blaming the attempted strikes on Ukraine.

Defense systems shot down a Ukrainian drone over central Moscow early Friday and some fragments fell on an exhibition center, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.

It said the drone was shot down about 4 a.m. (0100 GMT) and there were no injuries or fire caused by the fragments.

However, flights were briefly suspended at all four major Moscow airports.

Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said some of the fragments fell on the grounds of the Expocentre, an exhibition complex adjacent to the Moscow City commercial and office complex that was hit twice by drones in the past month.

Pictured: A Russian Ka-52 Alligator helicopter is seen in 2017 (file photo)

The area is about 2.5 miles west of the Kremlin. The defense ministry called the latest incident ‘another terrorist attack by the Kyiv regime.’

Naval forces also destroyed a Ukrainian sea drone that attempted an attack on Russian ships late Thursday in the Black Sea, about 150 miles southwest of Sevastopol, the ministry said.

The drone was taken out by fire from a patrol boat and a corvette, it said.

It was not possible to verify the claims.

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